Dr. Heller's Career Highlighted

As many of you know, Dr. Paul Heller recently lost his battle with cancer.  The faculty at Penn State appreciate all of the efforts by various groups in highlighting Paul's accomplishments and would like to share some of these here.

From TurfNet:
The moment seemed out of character for Paul Heller, Ph.D., except maybe to those who knew him best.

As an entomologist at Penn State University, Heller was attending a regional superintendents meeting in the early 1990s at Centre Hills Country Club in State College, Pa. The required jacket and tie spoke to the serious nature of the affair. On the other hand, the beer cooler that Heller had in his car was symbolic of his dedication to his profession and his fun-loving nature. After dinner, he asked the assistant superintendent sitting next to him if he could help him bring the cooler inside.

“We brought in the cooler, and he handed out live grub samples with desert, for superintendents to identify them,” said Danny Kline, who later became Heller’s research technician for six-plus years. “People just started laughing, but he was serious. He said ‘I want you to identify these and tell me what they are.’ ”

Read the full story here.

From the Desk of GCM:
It's been a sad few weeks for the alumni, faculty and friends of the Penn State turfgrass program, as they have been mourning the death of Paul Heller, Ph.D. (pictured here in the blue shirt, alongside another Penn Stater, Robert Walker, during a visit to St. David's GC in Wayne, Pa.). Heller was a longtime professor of entomology in the program who died on Jan. 18 after a long bout with colon cancer. He was 61.

Shortly after Heller's passing, we heard from Henry Wetzel, Ph.D., a former student of Heller's who now works as a turfgrass consultant based out of Coeur d'Alene, Idaho. He's assisting us in putting together a short obituary for Heller that we'll publish in the March issue of GCM, and sent along a remembrance of Heller that he wrote for the Philadelphia GCSA's March newsletter. We thought our blog would be a great place for folks to get a more-detailed sense of what Heller meant to the Penn State family, so we're pleased to present Wetzel's thoughts today.

Read the full story here.

2010 Internships Secured

View 2010 Internships in a larger map
Above is a map of where the Penn State Golf Course Turfgrass Management Students will be doing their internships this summer. This year's class will be conducting internships at golf courses throughout the United States. This 6-month internship is an essential component of the 18-month Turfgrass Management Program at Penn State. Students will be expected to participate in a wide range of activities from agronomic practices, mechanics, business and people management, and numerous other skills related to golf course management.

The internship program begins in the first semester with an internship preparation class.  During the semester students learn to develop their resumes, write cover letters, create learning goals and objectives, and ultimately secure their internship. This summer, students will intern at the following golf courses:

Merion Golf Club, Gary Nolan
Medinah Country Club, Justin Gladhill and Chris Funke
Whistling Straits, Ryan Brooks
Glenmaura National, Emmanuel Santos
Pinehurst Golf Club, Daniel Carretero
Kittansett Club, Martin Sorensen
Philadelphia Cricket Club, Tyler Jumper
Denver Country Club, Dustin Weeks
Pine Valley Golf Club, Charles Kerr
Oakmont Country Club, Anthony Kowalski
Aronimink Golf Club, James Seisun
Bidermann Golf Course, Patrick Forrest
Muirfield Village Golf Club, Timothy Kelly
Eagle Point Golf Club, Dallas Cockrell
Winged Foot Golf Club, Ernie Bendzak

Paul Heller (May 11, 1948 - January 18, 2010)

Paul was born in Wooster, OH, on May 11, 1948 to Robert and Mabel (Haas) Heller. He attended the Wooster Public Schools, graduating from Wooster Public High School in 1964. He received his Ph.D. in entomology from Ohio State in 1976, M.S. in entomology from Ohio State in 1972, and B.A. in biology from Malone College in 1970. Paul was a professor of entomology, having joined The Pennsylvania State University as a faculty member in 1976. He co-authored the publication Turfgrass Insect and Mite Manual. His research focused on conventional and biorational management of annual bluegrass weevil, black cutworm, bluegrass billbug, hairy chinch bug, nuisance ant, and scarab white grubs. His extension appointment included turfgrass and Christmas tree integrative pest management. Paul was very active in his career at Penn State University as a professor of entomology, where he was employed for 33 years. He was especially gifted and intuitive when it came to mentoring students, and he made a tremendous difference in many of their lives and career paths. His work with golf course superintendents and other stakeholders was something he really enjoyed, becoming personal friends with many of them over the years. He was constantly striving to improve his classes for the benefit of the students and spent a lot of personal time in that endeavor. In addition to instructing the two and four year courses he was actively involved in the creation and teaching of his World Campus on-line classes, and was always especially interested to note that his students attended his courses from countries around the world, once even from a Navy ship in the Gulf. He loved working as a volunteer DJ at the local Christian radio station, WTLR, which he did for many years, and was known affectionately by hundreds of listeners as “Uncle Paul.” Even though he traveled extensively for his work, after his marriage to June Harder on May 19, 1990, his interest in traveling took a different turn as he and June did some extensive traveling together, the highlight of which was spending two weeks in New Zealand. He especially enjoyed taking one- and two-day trips to various places in Pennsylvania and the surrounding states, frequently acting as chauffeur for June, taking her to wherever she expressed an interest to visit. The greatest gifts with which he was blessed were the support and uncanny intuition he was always ready to share. This showed up in so many ways to so many people and he was frequently to be found listening attentively to the confidences of people he had just met. He was unfailingly supportive of June in any and all of her endeavors and was her biggest and most reliable cheerleader. Above all, he was generous with all his resources and was always thinking of others first.

He was preceded in death by his parents and grandparents. Paul is survived by his wife, June Heller of Spring Mills, PA; a brother, David (Deb) Heller and their two children, Andrew and Eric of Wooster, OH; a cousin, Bill (Carol) Heller of Shreve,OH; many other relatives and friends.

For more information...

Penn State Goes to England

If you have been following the changes within the Golf Course Turfgrass Management Program (the 2-year program) at Penn State, you know that one of the new initiatives is to increase the number of international students within the program.  In an effort to accomplish this, Penn State will be recruiting at a few upcoming international conferences.  This week, I will be traveling to England to attend the BIGGA Turfgrass Management Exhibition (BTME).  This event is similar to the Golf Industry Show held annual in conjunction with the Golf Course Superintendent's Association.

The British & International Golf Greenkeepers Association (BIGGA) is the primary education organization for golf course managers throughout the UK, Ireland and Northern Europe.  Joining me on the trip will be Dr. Fidanza (Penn State Berks Campus) and Mr. Stanley Zontek (Director of the Mid-Atlantic Green Section of the USGA).  In addition to spending time in the booth, Dr. Fidanza will also be an invited speaker and present on the management of Fairy Ring on golf course turf.

About Our Program. Since 1957, Penn State has offered a certificate in golf course turfgrass management for individuals interested in careers as golf course superintendents. If you’re interested in a supervisory position in golf course turfgrass management, Penn State can help you on your way. The University’s Department of Crop and Soil Sciences offers a two-year certificate program in golf course turfgrass management. Students enrolled in this special Golf Course Turfgrass Management Program attend classes during two eight-week terms a year on the University Park Campus and also complete six months of on-the-job training at one of the top golf courses in the world.

Past students have represented the following countries, among others:

• Canada
• China
• Denmark
• England
  
• Germany
• Holland
• Ireland
  
• Scotland
  
• South Africa
• Spain
  

If you are interested in studying turfgrass management and working on a golf course in the United States, stop by booth B16 and introduce yourself!

John
Director, Penn State Golf Course Turfgrass Management Program

Featured Alumni: Matt Shaffer

Between hosting the 2009 Walker Cup and preparing for the 2013 U.S. Open, Matt Shaffer, golf course superintendent at Merion Golf Club, sat down with us. Mr. Shaffer discussed his feelings about Penn State's 2-Year turf program and the turfgrass industry as a whole.

"A great education boils down to those that teach you!  I know some other colleges use superintendents and while that sounds flattering, when you are trying to get as much knowledge into someone’s head as quick as possible it is better to use professional educators for that task!  The faculty at Penn State program is superior to any other faculty at a two year college anywhere!" (Matt Shaffer, Merion Golf Club)  Read more...

This is the first in a "featured alumni" series about graduates of Penn State's 2-year turfgrass management program. This ongoing series will include question and answer sessions and even video interviews of our alumni. 

To view the rest of this feature and more of our featured alumni visit our Featured Alumni section.